The café was too clean.

  Lian noticed it the moment she stepped inside.

  She chose a table near the window because she always chose exits without thinking about it. Old habits lived deeper than intention.

  Kai sat two tables away pretending to scroll through his phone. Anyone watching would see a bored younger brother waiting for someone who talked too much. Anyone watching closely would not exist long enough to matter.

  The doctor arrived exactly on time.

  He smiled when he saw her.

  “Lian,” he said as he pulled out the chair. “Thank you for coming.”

  “I said I would think about it,” she replied.

  “And you thought,” he said gently.

  She did not smile. “Sit.”

  He ordered before she could say anything. Two coffees. The kind she used to drink. He remembered that.

  She hated that he remembered.

  For a moment they just sat there. Steam rising between them like something alive.

  “You look tired,” he said.

  “So do you,” she replied.

  He laughed softly. “Occupational hazard.”

  “Saving lives must be exhausting,” she said.

  His eyes flickered. Just a fraction. But she saw it.

  “I do my part,” he said.

  She leaned back. “You were near the port last night.”

  He did not deny it. “I was.”

  “Why.”

  “There was a shipment I was curious about,” he said. “Medical supplies.”

  “That warehouse did not hold medical supplies,” she said.

  “Not officially,” he replied.

  They looked at each other. Not as lovers. Not even as enemies. As people who knew how dangerous honesty could be.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “I did not know you were still in the city,” he said.

  “I move,” she replied. “You should know that.”

  “Yes,” he said. “I should.”

  He took a sip of coffee and winced. “Too bitter.”

  “You ordered it,” she said.

  “Old habits,” he replied.

  She watched his hands. Steady. No tremor. No guilt that showed itself easily.

  “Why did you really call me,” she asked.

  He exhaled slowly. “Because I keep running into ghosts.”

  Her fingers tightened around her cup. “Do not talk like that.”

  “I mean it,” he said. “Everywhere I go lately something feels familiar in the wrong way. People are disappearing.”

  She said nothing.

  “I thought maybe you were connected,” he continued. “Not as an accusation. As a possibility.”

  “You always did like possibilities,” she said.

  He smiled faintly. “You always hated them.”

  Kai coughed loudly from his table. Loud enough to remind her he was there.

  The doctor glanced briefly in his direction. “Your brother.”

  “Yes,” Lian said. “He worries.”

  “As he should,” the doctor replied. “This city eats people.”

  “It eats the careless,” she said.

  He nodded. “And the ambitious.”

  They sat in silence again. Outside a bus passed.

  “I heard about the broker,” he said eventually. “Found dead.”

  Her eyes did not change. “People die.”

  “True,” he said. “But patterns matter.”

  “To you,” she replied.

  “To anyone paying attention,” he said.

  She leaned forward slightly. “You should stop paying attention to the wrong things.”

  His gaze sharpened. “Are you warning me.”

  “I am stating a fact,” she said.

  He studied her face like he used to. Like he was memorizing details he feared losing.

  “You have changed,” he said quietly.

  “So have you,” she replied.

  He looked down at his coffee. “I work long hours. I see things most people never will.”

  “So do I,” she said.

  He looked up. “Is that a confession.”

  “No,” she replied.

  He smiled then.

  “I will not ask what you do,” he said. “I will only say this. Be careful. Forces are moving that do not care about intention.”

  She stood. “This conversation is over.”

  He did not stop her. He did not grab her wrist like he once might have. He only watched her rise like he was watching a door close forever.

  “Lian,” he said softly. “If you ever need help. Real help.”

  She paused. “Help always has a price.”

  “Not from me,” he said.

  She turned. “Everyone has a price. Even doctors.”

  She walked out without looking back.

  Kai joined her halfway down the street.

  “You okay,” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “You are lying,” he said.

  She did not correct him.

  They walked in silence until the café disappeared behind them.

  “He is watching,” Kai said.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “And he is not stupid,” Kai added.

  “No,” she said. “That might be the problem.”